Thursday, April 26, 2007

PLACES THE DEAD CALL HOME by Paul L. Hall

iUniverse2021 Pine Lake Rd, Lincoln, NEwww.iuniverse.comGenre: Fiction/Mystery & DetectiveRating: ExceptionalISBN: 0595410715, $17.95, 271 pp.This novel is classic mystery genre, and Paul Hall does an uniquely artistic job of spinning this macabre tale of greed, ambition and murder. Quoting from the opening line from the back cover:

"Places the Dead Call Home begins on a summer night in 1958, as bullets tear through the body of a young man on a lonely Oklahoma highway. Nineteen years later, a soldier lies in the pool of his own blood on an army base in Virginia. Death has made room at home for both of them. Death can always find room for more."

Paul Hall is a colorful, intriguing writer, along the lines of Robert Ludlum, and here’s a sample to pique your interest:

"The man in the uniform was startled to feel himself rolling over the balcony railing and suddenly weightless. At the jarring impact, nausea rose in his throat, and, though there was little pain, he knew instantly that he was paralyzed. Vomit was pouring through his raw throat; the acid tang of asphalt was in his nostrils; his face stung with embedded pebbles, and he was trapped in his own body. He knew with certainty that he was dying, that life was draining from him. This, he thought, is the strangest sensation.

"His eyes would not move, but he could still see–could see with remarkable clarity. There was the road leading up to the intersection, the glowing red taillights of the moving cars, the traffic signal switching from red to green, and a half dozen vehicles beginning to move, now rolling slowly through the intersection. His mind was clear, and he wondered whether, if one of those drivers glanced in his direction, he might see him lying there at the base of the building. But it was dark, and these people had other things to do and places to be. After all, whoever got into his car thinking he’d see a man lying in the street, bleeding to death?"

Places the Dead Call Home is an iUniverse Editor’s Choice, with which I agree. Other novels by Paul L. Hall include the award-winning Our Father and The Big Island. Also, I’m delighted to find more and more accomplished writers are turning to POD publishers to have greater control over the entire publishing process, and iUniverse is one of the best.